The Future Is Bright

Career Day was a popular day to dream about the future. By the excitement, energy, leadership and creativity found in Room 115, the future is in good hands.

Becoming Life Long Readers

One of my goals for Room 115 is to develop a love of reading in your child.  Books have a very valued place in our classroom.  It was so fun to see the children bring their favorite books to school to share with the class.  I hope as you do your Christmas shopping that there is at least one book under your tree.  One of the favorite books at my house is Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett. http://www.amazon.com/Tickle-Monster-Josie-Bissett/dp/1932319670/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322542807&sr=8-2 (Rarely will I  recommend a book written by a Hollywood actress; but there is something to be said about keeping an open mind!)  At my house, we all climb into the bed.  I read the story, my husband does the tickling and my girls fill the room with priceless laughter.  Go ahead and splurge on the mitts because it makes the story that much more fun!  Tickle Monster is requested every night at bedtime in the McDevitt household.

Enjoy the favorite titles of Room 115.!

Goodbye November and Hello December

Slow down!!!! Time is moving way too quickly.  Our November calendar pages will come home on Thursday.  There will be a note attached to calendar pages for you to know the learning taking place with our calendar notebook.

I accidentally left my camera at school during the break so I am unable to upload slideshows from our very busy week of school.  I will try and upload pictures on Monday night so you can see how we dressed up for career day, our picnic lunch in the hallway during the tornado warning, our afternoon of Thanksgiving crafts and of course our days as pilgrims and Native Americans.

This week, we will be investigating the letter Dd as in dog on a doghouse.  The word wall words will be: we, she, ten, funny, The/the, as. 

In math, we will be comparing numbers to ten.

There will be no reading homework on Monday night.

Monday is Italian Ice day for $1.00 and library day.

Check back packs on Thursday for our poetry notebooks. It is a song this week and very appropriate for a return to Room 115 after a restful break!

A book order will come home on Monday.  Book orders and payment are due on Thursday.  Our on-line code is GL88R.  Book orders are optional.

Be on the lookout from the room mothers about information on our upcoming class party on Thursday, December 15.  We would love to celebrate December with you so I hope you can attend.

I will be out of the classroom on Friday.  I have secured an excellent substitute. 

Upcoming events:
Wednesday, November 30:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice
Thursday, December 1:  book orders due
Wednesday, December 7:  Spirit Night:  Applebees
Tuesday, December 13:  Spirit Night at Jason's Deli
Thursday, December 15:  Holiday party
Friday, December 16:  Kindergarten wears pajamas to school to watch Polar Express
Monday, December 19-Tuesday, January 3:  Winter Holiday Break
Wednesday, January 4: Students return

Contact me with any questions or concerns you  have.

Gobble...Gobble

We've been reading books, doing research and making Thanksgiving items.  On Tuesday and Thursday of this week, we will be dressing up as pilgrims and Native Americans for lunch.  You are welcome to join us at 10:40-11:05 in the lunch room.  On one day your child will be dressed up as a pilgrim and then the next day will be a Native American.  Or your child will be dressed as a Native American on Tuesday and then a pilgrim on Thursday.  (Note:  They always want to be the Native Americans more so than the pilgrims but we all take a turn at both).   We will decide on Monday, who is dressing up as who on what day. The costumes will be provided.  All you need to do is join us for lunch.  You should have received an email from the Room Parents about our "Afternoon of Thanks" on Thursday beginning at 2:00.  Please join us as we celebrate the friendship in Room 115.  For more information about Thursday afternoon, contact the room mothers.



(There should be a slideshow above this sentence.  Contact me if you cannot see it.)

In reading this week, we will be investigating the letter "Cc" as in "cow on a cab."  Word wall words will be:  The/the, funny, as. 

In math, we will be finishing numbers up to nine.

This week is American Education Week. Please follow the favorite book schedule that went home last Wednesday.  Books will come home the same day they are brought.  Also, Wednesday is career day where the children are allowed to dress up as their future dream job.  Friday will  be celebrating your favorite institute of higher education so you may wear a college t-shirt. 

Monday is Italian Ice for $1.00 and library day.

Thursday is the 2nd Annual Blount Holiday Market. 
5:30-8:30pm
Come shop from 19 booths selling personalized items, kitchen goods, cake
testing, jewelry, skincare, candles, girls bows and much more! Food
vendors - Jason's Deli and Nancy's Italian Ice! 19 Door Prizes to win!
Plus our very own school Choir and Band will be performing!
Help spread the word! All booth fees and ticket sales for door prizes go
to support our school!  Admission is FREE!
Interested in having a booth?  There's still room!  Contact Holly Harris -
treasurer@blountpta.org.

Please continue to save egg cartons and toilet tissue rolls.  Send them in at any time.


Last week's poem was very easy for us to read.  The best part of that poem was that we learned about the different kinds of punctuation:  the period, the question mark and the exclamation mark.  We practiced how good readers know what to do with their voices when they see punctuation marks.  We also practiced sitting EEKK (elbow to elbow and knee to knee) when reading books with partners.  You can practice EEKK at home too with the book in the middle.  Check back packs this Friday for a special poem that your family can do once you eat your Thanksgiving turkey.

My thankful thoughts on Thanksgiving will be overflowing with thoughts of Room 115.  I'm thankful for each member in our classroom.  When I walk into our classroom every morning I do not see the challenges before me rather I see a class full of lawyers, business leaders, artists, architects, teachers, and presidents.  I have high expectations for their success and know that I need to provide a strong foundation.  I'm thankful for the tremendous amount of support the parents of Room 115 give me.  Your kind notes, bouquets of flowers, my favorite soda, a regular duty free lunch, classroom volunteers, preparing classroom resources and your generosity towards our classroom are overwhelming.  Thank you for loving and supporting our classroom and trusting me with the education of your child. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I know how limited family time is during the school year so I hope you soak up the imagination, laughter and personality of your child next week.  Be safe and I'll be excited to see my precious friends on Monday, Novemeber 28.

Important Dates:
Tuesday, Novmeber 15:  Spirit night at Burger King (Chantilly Pkwy)
Tuesday, November 15:  Pilgrim/Native American  lunch from 10:40-11:05
Wednesday, November 16:  Career Day - dress as your future job
Thursday, November 17:  Pilgrim/Native American lunch from 10:40-11:05
Thursday, November 17:  Holiday Market at Blount
Friday, November 18:  Wear your favorite college t-shirt
November 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break
Wednesday, Novmeber 30:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice
 

Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

November is a short month for school days but full of learning.  Hold on!!!! November is going to fly by.

We began November with celebrating a birthday.  Hip hip hooray for turning 6!  Great and fun things will happen to our friend this year.

This is a review week in reading to stop and catch a breath.  Use your evenings this week to work on word wall words that are difficult for your child.  Be sure to check your white binder.  Two reading groups had homework this weekend.

In math, we will be working on numbers 6-9.  We will be concentrating on making sets, counting one to one correspondence and  drawing the numeral.

On Monday, you will receive a grade level t-shirt form.  This is an optional t-shirt that can purchased and worn every Tuesday with blue jeans.  If interested, you must turn in the form with payment on Tuesday, November 8.  There is only one chance to purchase this t-shirt and that is on Tuesday of this week.  If you do not purchase the t-shirt then regular uniform clothing will be worn on Tuesdays.

Monday is Nancy's Italian Ice for $1.00 and library day.

Book orders are due on Tuesday.  I will place the order Tuesday night and books should be back in time for Thanksgiving.

There is no school on Friday in observance of Veteran's Day.  Enjoy your three day weekend. A special THANK YOU to our military families for the sacrifices they make for our freedom!

Please continue to save egg cartons and toilet tissue rolls .  We are good with paper towel rolls.  Please send them in as you collect them.

Next week is American Education Week.  On Wednesday, November 16, the children may come to school dressed up as their future careers.  I know how busy families can be so I wanted to give you plenty of time to listen to your child's ideas and create his/her dream job.

Also during American Education Week,  I will allow the children to bring one of their favorite story books to school.  I will take time during the day to read their book.  I will send home a schedule on Wednesday with the day your child can bring a book to school to share.  Please try to follow this schedule and remember to send a book.  Your child's book will come home the same day it is brought to school.  Happy Reading!!!



We are getting quite the collection of poems in our poetry notebook.  Our poem last week was preparing us for Thanksgiving (and multiple meanings).   That poem was full of fun rhyming words and a treat to act out.  Be prepared for a new poem this Thursday.  

Tuesday night is Pizza and the PTA.  The PTA extended the pizza ordering until Monday.  If you are reading this on Sunday and you did not pre-order, send me an email and I will reply with the order form attached.  There will be pizza for sale on a first come, first served basis if you were unable to pre-order.  See you at the meeting at 6:00 on Tuesday.

Last week, several curriculum items were delivered to our classroom in large boxes.  So I pulled out one of my favorite books, "Not a Box."  I read it to the children and being the smart friends they are, they quickly picked up on the idea of using your imagination with empty boxes.   If you enter our classroom and see our growing collection of  "not boxes" you will know why.

Important Dates:
Tuesday, Novmeber 8:  Grade level t-shirt order forms due
Tuesday, November 8:  Book order due
Tuesday, Novmeber 8:  PTA meeting at 6:00
Friday, Novmeber 11:  Veteran's Day (no school)
Tuesday, Novmeber 15:  Spirit night at Burger King (Chantilly Pkwy)
Thursday, November 17:  Holiday Market at Blount
November 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break
Wednesday, Novmeber 30:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Goodbye Busy October...Hello Busy November

Goodbye to a busy October and Hello to an even busier November.  Check back packs tomorrow for our October calendar pages.  There will be a sheet of paper attached to the calendar pages with questions to ask your child about our calendar learning.

Last week was so busy but the important thing we did was celebrate a birthday in Room 115.  This friend makes our classroom a fun place to work in play!

This week we will be studying the letter "Zz" as in "Zebra in the zoo."  The sight words are:  see, nine, of, he.

In math we are going to be using the vocabulary words of:  compare, greater, less and same number as we investigate numbers, sets and groups.

The library is having a book fair this week with proceeds benefiting the library.  Children with money may visit the book fair and purchase a book.  Warning:  The book fair sells items other than just books.  Often the children are drawn to the novelties more than the books.  Please discuss with your child what he/she is allowed to spend the money on.   If you join us for lunch, you may visit the book fair with your child and assist in the shopping.  Please label money that is designated for the book fair.

Our field trip was wonderful.  Thanks to ALL the parents that helped and made sure we were accounted for and well taken care of.  Sometimes, when that many parents get together there is  more visiting than assisting. However, that was not true last Wednesday.  Thanks for being such a supportive bunch of parents for Room 115.  I appreciate you more than you will ever know!



I do not want to compete with the book fair but I will send home a book order on Thursday with a due date of Tuesday, November 8.  There are several excellent titles that I'm ordering for the classroom and I wanted to give you the option too.  Remember book orders are OPTIONAL.  If you are ordering online:  our class code is GL88R.

Nancy's Italian Ice is this Monday.  If it is convenient for you, you may pay in advance for the Italian Ice.  I will let you know when you are running low on credit.

Tuesday, November 8 is our first PTA meeting.  The PTA has made it even easier by giving you the night off from cooking dinner by offering pizza for sale.  Please join us as we support our school.


Heads up:  The week of Novemer 14-18 is American Education Week.  On Wednesday, November 16, the children may come to school dressed up as their future careers.  I know how busy families can be so I wanted to give you plenty of time to listen to your child's ideas and create his/her dream job.

The following is from one parent to another if you are need of some help with Christmas shopping.  Have you heard about Magnatiles in our classroom?   I can promise you that every child in Room 115 likes to spend time with this classroom tool.  I have a set of Magnatiles at my house and my children play with these EVERY DAY!   My husband says that we could get rid of every toy in our house except the Magnatiles, the baby dolls and our dog and the girls would never miss what we got rid of.  I don't agree but I do know that children love these.  If you are in need of a quality toy at your house, I recommend this:  http://www.kaplantoys.com/store/trans/productDetailForm.asp?CatID=4%7CKTBL04%7C0&PID=48099  .  Once you get over the high price, please know that they are very well constructed and the amount that your child will play with it will be worth the steep price.  You are more than welcome to visit the classroom and play with the Magnatiles. It is amazing the creations that the children build with them.   Google for the best price.  Right now the above link has a sale for 20% off your purchase and free shipping.  Go to this website for parent reviews:  http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/magna_tiles/magna_tiles_clear_colors_100_pc_set.cfm  .

We ended the weekend with a celebration of the book Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk.  All Miss Spider wanted was a friend.  We celebrated friendship with our version of Miss Spider's Tea Party complete with a craft.  Thank you to all the parents who assisted, decorated and visited with the children.  It is nice to have so many people loving Room 115.



Email me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Happy Halloween!

Red Ribbons...a Field Trip...Spiders

A new nine weeks means new crayons.  The last thing we did on Friday was open up a new box of  crayons.  We went from eight crayons to twenty four.  The students were disappointed that it was time to dismiss because they wanted a big piece of paper to try out all those new colors.

This week we will be studying the letter "Ww" as in "worm in a wagon."  The word wall words are:  eight, to, do, am.

In math, we will be playing a lot of games to help us understand the vocabulary of more than and less than.  This is a hard concept so we will be revisiting it often.

This nine weeks, I will be working with your child to write his name with only a capital letter at the beginning.  Please reinforce this at home.

Our field trip to Dreamfield's Pumpkin Patch will be this Wednesday.  The weather forecast appears to be perfect.  If you are joining us at the patch, please get there ahead of the bus.  You will need to pay your entrance fee before the bus arrives.  You will know when we have arrived because we will be dressed in our yellow t-shirts.  Jeans may be worn on this field trip.  I have a parent bringing bottles of water for the students.  Please let me know if you can volunteer to send crackers (goldfish or Ritz cheese crackers -  no peanut butter crackers) for the children to refuel.  If you are chaperoning on the field trip, you will be able to check your child out from the pumpkin patch if you desire. Lunch was included in the price so DO NOT SEND A LUNCH on Wednesday.

Did you listen to your child read the poem over the weekend? I can assure you  that Lazy Jane is not a member of Room 115.  Our classroom is filled with hard workers who are trying their best every day.  Did you notice that I used a different font for Lazy Jane?  We talked about how the lowercase a can be written in a different way. Help your child recognize the different ways you can find the letter a in books. 

Red Ribbon Week, celebrating healthy choices for our bodies, is this week. Something special is planned each day.  Since we have our field trip on Wednesday and I don't want to keep up with nineteen hats, I  will allow hat day to be combined with Thursday's sunglasses day.  Please do not send a hat to school on Wednesday.  Refer to the handout from last Wednesday for the full explanation but here is a cheat sheet:
Monday:  We will decorate our door with a red chain.  Wear a red uniform top (not spirit wear) if you have one.   
Tuesday:  Wear crazy socks
Thursday: Sunglasses and a hat
Friday:  Your favorite team jersey/t-shirt

This week our writing center turned into a book publishing center.  It was a busy place in our classroom!  You can tell that Room 115 is an expert at books because there was not a shortage of ideas in the writing center.  We discussed that authors write about what they love.  We had books about family, cats, friends, fairies,bicycles, and pumpkins to name just a few ideas.  Please refer back to the writing handout I gave you at the small group meeting for Room 115.  In that handout, you will see the different stages of writing.  Each one of those stages is normal for a Kindergarten student. Do not be upset if you are not seeing traditional words in your child's writing. All that will come with time.  Rather, listen to your child share the writings he brings home and celebrate the thought process of the story.  Remember I told you that writers are thinkers.  Your child's writing is a concrete example of his thinking.  I encourage you to have an area in your house with writing tools and paper for  your child to have access for the endless thoughts in his head.  As beginning writers, children often write stories.  Don't spell words for them, rather tell them to write the sounds they hear.  If your child writes down the beginning sound and moves to the next word, that is perfectly normal.  Refer back to that handout for reassurance.  Your job is to celebrate and encourage your writer!!!



Monday is  Nancy's Italian Ice for  $1.00.

We rotate to P.E. on Monday.  I will not be taking the children to the playground for the next three weeks since they will be seeing Coach everyday.

I will  be out of the classroom on Thursday morning.  My youngest daughter has a Halloween parade at her school so I will be wearing my mommy hat.  I will be back in the classroom by 11:30.  I have an excellent substitute arranged so the learning will continue to take place.  I will flip  flop the schedule and teach reading in the afternoon.

Friday is a special "spidery" treat for Room 115.  You should have received an email from the room parents with more information.   I will let the children in on the treat, closer to the date.  You are welcome to join us as we celebrate October's learning.  Thank you so much for loving our classroom!

The best part of last week was celebrating a very important birthday.  Happy Birthday to a very sweet member of Room 115!

Upcoming Events:
October 26:  Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch  (wear yellow t-shirts and jeans)
October 26:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice
October 28:  Room 115 Celebrates Miss Spider's Tea Party at 2:00.
November 1:  Deadline for Just Give Campaign
Novcmber 8: PTA meeting
November 11:  No school:  Veteran's Day

Contact me with any questions or concerns.